SUSTAINED BUT NEVER SATISFIED
Part 14
Exo. 16:4
Morning Meditation 11/15/16
Verse 4 says, “Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.”
I will be looking at verses all through the chapter in this meditation but will not print them for the sake of space. The LORD states His purpose in giving the manna when He says, “ . . . that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.”
How did they come out on this test? There were those who passed the test and did exactly what the LORD had said. We know Caleb and Joshua were two who obeyed God because they believed Him. There is no doubt there were others unnamed. But there were none who were very strong in faith. When they were pushed by trials, they complained. The lessons taught in the wilderness are the faithfulness of God to an unworthy people and the carnality of a nation that had enough faith to get them out of Egypt but not enough to get them into Canaan. God proved them by trials, and when the trials put pressure on them, they manifest their unbelief and dissatisfaction with God.
God allowed them to hunger. Deuteronomy 8:2 says, “And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and SUFFERED THEE TO HUNGER, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.” (Caps mine). The hunger was ordained of God. It was there to try them. They didn’t do well on the test. They murmured and God heard them: “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God” (vs. 11-12). God heard their complaints and even though He responded in grace He also responded in judgment. God is not pleased with a complaining people. The manna that God supplied on this occasion lasted forty years but the quails were a one time provision.
The manna came as a blessing and the quails as a judgment. This is described in Numbers 11:31-34: “And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth. And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp. And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague. And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted.”
The next time we complain it might be good for us to read these verses. Our circumstances are planed of God. He has given us the promise of Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” We just need to pray, “God, give us grace to be hungry and wait.”
The manna was not permanent. It would stop when they came into the borders of Canaan (vs. 35). Was the manna God’s perfect will for forty years? I think not. This was a temporary gift that lasted for forty years! We are told how the manna tasted. It was like fresh oil and honey. Oil is a type of the Holy Spirit and honey might typify the Word: Psa. 119:103 says, “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” The only problem that I have with this is that the Holy Spirit and the Word are eternal gifts and never temporary. So I won’t go too far with this. The wafers were enough to meet their food needs but never enough to satisfy. The taste of honey was a constant reminder of the end to which they came out of Egypt. They came out of Egypt that they might come in to a land flowing with milk and honey. They were sustained but never satisfied.
The carnal Christian is never satisfied. He is restless. He is saved and God has wrought such a change in him that He is no longer happy in Egypt but is unwilling to operate on the principles of his new life. He thinks God can use the talents and the skills that he has obtained in Egypt. 2 Cor. 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Paul says, “Old things are passed away . . .” The words “passed away” means perished and is an aorist active indicative verb. The aorist tense means that at the point of time that the new creature came into existence the old things perished. It is called death in Romans six. The words “ . . . behold, all things are become new” means that the new things come into being at the time of the new creation. From the time of our new creation we have been on a completely new principle of life. It is called faith. Faith is God-given and is the capacity to hear God’s voice (His Word), and respond, and act on things He says even though we do not understand rationally. It is trusting God to be right about what He says, and act as though we had a material image of the invisible. Instead of the material image being the substance of our actions, faith is (Heb. 11:1). And when we act on what God says, we become the evidence to the unbelieving world that GOD IS and can be trusted.
Moses had a real problem. It is difficult if not impossible to lead a group of people who are not committed to the same quality of faith you are. Moses did a magnificent job in leading Israel. Love for God and the people and patience made Him a leader that would stay with them through it all. He suffered without complaint. But he did appear with Jesus and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration IN THE LAND.
I have never seen a carnal Christian that was satisfied. They eat the manna and grumble. Numbers 21:5 says, “And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.” One of the things you didn’t do when I was a boy, was to complain at the table about the food. I did once and the warning I got from the head of the house convinced me that it would never be safe to do that again. My grandfather, who was a good and godly man, was not given to violence. I loved and respected him, and what he said was important to me. He instructed me that it was the height of ingratitude to criticize the provisions that God had given and my grandmother had cooked. Even though he was not a violent man, I saw that there might be a volcanic eruption if I did not show the proper respect to my grandmother’s cooking the next time. I never did it again! Israel did it over and over again. This is the way of the carnal Christian. They seldom learn. I have tried to help so many carnal Christians who in moments of need would admit their carnality. But as soon as the situation passed that had brought about the admission, they were right back to their carnal practices. God has not called me to judge them. And I must not allow them to provoke my spirit as Moses did. Psa. 106:32-33 says, “They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.” You may think that Moses was justified in what he did and said in this situation. God held him responsible. It is never right to do wrong. It is never right for any Christian to disobey God because he is provoked by others. A lot of carnal Christians do not go to church because of some bad experience they had somewhere in their past. Listen, God did not even let Moses get away with that lame excuse. Why not just admit that you are a sorry low down hypocrite, as sorry as any you have ever criticized, and probably a little worse, repent of your carnality, ask God’s forgiveness, and get back in Church, and let God restore the joy of your salvation?
Israel was sustained but never satisfied. This is the picture of the carnal Christian. He is out of Egypt but not into Canaan. And he cannot celebrate the Passover in the desert. Delivered from what!? What would you celebrate? Deliverance from Western Sizzlin to the desert? You cannot properly celebrate your salvation in a carnal condition. You may constantly get glimpses of Canaan but you are never quiet there. Can a carnal Christian ever become Spiritual? Yes, but not without death. You must die to Egypt, burn the bridges, and start living by faith, and act in obedience to what God says daily, not just Sundays. The choice is yours.
May God bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
